Millennial retention is all based on family benefits

No age group wants paid time off for themselves or loved ones more than millennials. As these tech-savvy young adults come of age both at work and at home, they’re feeling the stress of decreasing life balance and increasing demands. Employers, too, are affected by millennials’ commitment to family. A recent survey by Care.com found a direct correlation between family-friendly benefits and retention of key employees:

1. Family is an important part of the millennial lifestyle.Most employers are using to think that workers pay attention to the numbers on their paychecks, but millennials aren’t as impressed with high salaries as it is commponly used to consider. Instead, they seek out employers and careers that offer the best family-centric benefits, including flexible schedules, paid parental leave and child-care assistance, the Care.com survey found. More than 80 percent of millennial workers surveyed said they would change job based on benefits related to family care.

2. A crucial moment in time for millennials.Millennials are reaching a critical point in their lives: moving into management roles as they start families. While half of millennials point to increased work responsibilities as their primary source of stress, more than 40 percent cite growing family obligations. Millennials constitute a full 90 percent of new parents, so it’s not surprising that flexible work schedules and assistance with childcare rank among the top benefits that would spur workers to embark on a job search. Around the world, about half of managers work in excess of 40 hours per week, and 40 percent report an upswing in time spent on the job. Working hours of millennials and parents have increased the most in the past few years.

3. How are businesses affected, and how are they responding?Family-care benefits have a direct relationship to recruitment and retention of employees, the recent research shows. Companies that lack such benefits suffer from a distinct disadvantage when it comes to attracting and keeping top talent. Employers pay an average of 20 percent of a worker’s salary to replace that worker. With millennials the costs of workers abandoning ship for companies with better lifestyle and family benefits could become painful very quickly. Many businesses are responding to the trend by boosting family-friendly benefits, including onsite child care, assistance with college tuition costs for employees and dependents, and paid child-care leave. Alongside increased success in recruiting and retention, benefits for companies include less absenteeism, better engagement and higher job satisfaction.

4. Family-centric benefits aid in recruiting, retaining millennial workers.A corporate culture that not only tolerates but encourages adequate attention to family life is key for engaging millennial workers. Significant numbers of millennials are willing to move — even internationally — to attain the elusive ideal of work-life balance. Companies that send the message “yes, you can have it all” take a major step toward convincing millennials to settle down.